This is a series of wisdom and mystical knowledge that will be examined... This knowledge will show the hidden teachings of Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef also known as Jesus the Christ but will also include esoteric knowledge from the Mystics of all religions and philosophies...
All of these Mystics will ask you to find the ' Source of All ', and to ' Know Thyself '... Enter into the most important experience of your life...

We come once again out of the silence and into the void of outer presentation. We say, into the void, for it is into that area where the consciousness of the soul is often yet to be germinated and to grow. So it is for this purpose that we come out of the silence and make a presentation that will assist those who have ears to hear and eyes to see and to read that which is offered or to hear that which is offered. We share theopportunity to look within and to go within to the silence and discover the infinite realm of soul consciousness.

This is an amazing pathway for the human mind, the human energy pattern to understand and to enter into. But it is truly the only energy pattern that is ever occurring within the outer world. It appears that there is muchhappening in other realms of experience or of emotional content, or intellectual content, or physical activity, but ultimately all that is done is reflective of what one knows. And if one knows who one is as a soul,then all that is accomplished, all that is done reflects that truth.

If one has not awakened to that consciousness and is still living in the void of forgetfulness, then what one does in the outer world using the tools of creation reflects that unknowing.

So we come out of the silence to share, to stimulate, to inform and generate an interest and a desire to search and go into that place where there is the unknown to discover that which you have truly always known. So step over the boundary. Come into the silence. Rest in the silence and know that all that you are, all that you can ever be is revealed moment by moment within the silence.

There is no greater path to walk; there is no greater moment of existence; there is no greater pattern of expression than to go into the silence to listen, to feel, to remember, and then to awaken to that which is the real you.

You are I AM, the Love, Light, and Life of creation.................thoughts from sacredwind.

"A growing number of followers of traditional religions are able to let go of identification with form, dogma, and rigid belief systems and discover the original depth that is hidden within their own spiritual tradition at the same time as they discover the depth within themselves. They realize that how spiritual you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness." – Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

Over two million people from 139 countries around the world have participated in Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle's web-based seminar studying Tolle's recent book, entitled A New Earth; Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. Many have questions as to whether Tolle's teaching is consistent with Christianity. In fact, I believe it is not only consistent with the teachings of Jesus and many Christian theologians over the centuries, but will lead you to discover a depth of insight that will awaken you to living more fully and loving more deeply.

What Is the Message of A New Earth

Tolle asks the question, "Who do you think you are?" You think you have some solid and fixed identity. The problem is that this fixed sense of self is completely conditioned by past emotional pain and projected ideas about the future. This false sense of a fixed self prevents you from living in the present, where you have direct access to your true essence which is no other than an expression of the universal life force.

All things (from planets to pebbles to flowers to animals) are expressions of this universal life force. Humans have evolved to the point where we have the ability to be aware of our oneness with the universal life force.

The false identification with the past and future has the world and the human race on the brink of extinction. Fortunately, this crisis is sparking many people to move from an unconscious state to consciousness. In order to become conscious, you must recognize that you are more than your ever changing thoughts and self image. Learn to be present in the now, because the past and the future exist only as ideas. As you learn to operate from your true essence rather than your ego, you will experience incredible transformation, and the planet will become "a new earth."

How Does the Message of A New Earth Gel With Christianity?

Tolle quotes more extensively from the Bible than any other source. He is clearly impacted by the teaching of Jesus. Further, Tolle renamed himself after his experience of awakening at age 29. He named himself Eckhart after the medieval Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart was controversial, because he downplayed the need for the church to mediate an experience of God, and instead suggested that every person could experience God directly. No doubt Eckhart Tolle is similarly controversial. But then again, so was Jesus who was heavily critical of religious elitism that controlled resources and spiritual truth.

Jesus acted as a mirror to his disciples. He modeled union with God. At one point, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" He did this to illustrate that people were locked in a number of ideas about his identity. Jesus was the persona they needed him to be; a mighty victor, a compassionate savior, a reborn hero. Then he brought the question closer to home, asking them, "Who do you say that I am?" Now he was urging them beyond personas and roles to engage in the moment with him. The answer came, "You are the Christ, the Son of God."

Mystics of Jesus' time believed that Christ was a way to describe union with God, or consciousness, within the man Jesus. Many Christian theologians have spoken of Christ Consciousness as the awareness of true essence.

How Can This Notion of True Essence Transform Your Life?

There is a poignant scene in the movie Anger Management. Jack Nicholson is the oddball psychologist attempting to draw out Adam Sandler in an anger management class. He asks the question, "Who are you?" Sandler describes his occupation. Nicholson says, "I didn't ask you what you do for a living. I asked you who you are." Then Sandler says he is easy going, and Nicholson says, "I didn't ask you to describe your personality. I asked you who you are." Sandler breaks down in frustration at that point. He is locked in roles and ideas about his identity.

You have all sorts of roles and personas. They are valid and important. Embody them fully. However they are time bound and don't fully capture your essence. Your true essence could never be captured by an occupation, a gender, a religion or a personality type. Your true essence is beyond words and description. You are nothing less than a Christ, a child of God, an expression of universal love in this moment.

Jesus embodied this truth and A New Earth has mirrored the same truth. Are you prepared to see beyond ideas and personas to the magnificence of your essential humanity?

The first step in harmonious relationships is simple: We need only realize the spiritual truth that we cannot meet someone whom we are not like in some way, even if we don't actively express what we don't like seeing in him or her. The deception is that we're sure we're unlike everyone except for those who match the images we have of ourselves. And so it goes that we live from -- see our lives through the eyes of a certain false sense of "I" that always resists anyone seen as being "not like I am." But love cannot grow where resistance rules.

We have not been given this precious life in order to go through it resisting everything that doesn't suit us; rather we are created to grow through whatever we meet along the way. Resistance devitalizes the possibility of our spiritual development, rendering useless the conditions in our lives that we are given in order to rise above them. When we resist what others show us about ourselves, we close the door on the possibility of transcending the undiscovered parts of us that are troubled by them. Freedom is not found by avoiding what disturbs us, but by illuminating -- realizing and releasing -- whatever may dwell in the dark of us that can be disturbed.

The human being is created to develop in the "likeness" of that marvelous Intelligence that made us. This Divine Intelligence didn't create anything that it fears or hates. It's a ridiculous thought to walk around and believe (as we all do because of the strong sense of self that it produces) that another person is our enemy simply because we feel enmity for him or her.

Now, just so we're clear on this, there are plenty of unpleasant people. Our world is packed with them! But, given the negative effect of resenting others, and the fact that (for now) all we know to do about those who disturb us is to resist them, could it be that when it comes to our human relationships we have been blinded to one of the main reasons for them? The answer is "Yes."

Just as the wind moves through a tree and carries its pollen to the blossoms of another tree, our relationships are intended to help "pollinate" the soul so that true understanding of why we are here on Earth can flower within it. We grow through our relationships with life, which means that through them we are shown possibilities about ourselves we never knew existed. To exclude any of these discoveries is to deny ourselves the truth of ourselves, something the Truth within us would never do.

We need a new intention in all of our relationships, something like this: "I will not suffer you; instead I will work to be increasingly conscious of us, suffering what I must for the sake of both of us. I will not cast you out as being something inferior to myself; I will not do that because it's impossible to recognize any 'inferior' condition in you unless something of it exists in myself as well."

Our work, if we're willing, is to catch that surging separation called "You are different from me." And then, in that same moment, to apply our new understanding that cancels this unconscious act of resistance. Instead, we embrace the realization that "you" and "I" are both exposed in this God-given moment that God meant for the purpose of transcending ourselves.

Much of the writing of Plotinus is descriptive of the state Hinduscall Nirvikalpa Samadhi. It is the total dispersal of the world fromthe field of awareness, a complete flight from sensations, thoughts,mental images, the physical body, and, above all, from any and everykind of activity. To an outside observer, it may seem to be a trancestate, but he would not be correct in his observation, nor altogetherwrong. It is as deep as contemplation can possibly go. It isConsciousness freed from any kind of personal admixture, staying onlywith itself. All these other things being removed, what is left isthen true self-knowledge, even if it is unconscious to the ego.

Happiness is yours in the here and now..The painful states of anxietyand loneliness are abolished permanently..Financial affairs are notfinancial problems..You are at ease with your self.. You are not at themercy of unfulfilled cravings.. Confusion is replaced with clarity..There is a relieving answer to every tormenting question.. You possessa True Self.. Something can be done about every unhappy condition..While living in the world you can be inwardly detached from it sorrowsto live with personal peace and sanity... And this is what unknowingpeople call impractical mysticism..............."Mystic Path to CosmicPower" by Vernon Howard

SEVERAL YEARS AGO IN A SMALL VILLAGE outside NewDelhi, I was sitting in a small, stuffy room with avery old man and a young priest. The priest sat on thefloor swaying back and forth as he recited words inkedon bark sheets that looked ancient. I listened, havingno idea what the priest was intoning. He was from thefar south and his language, Tamil, was foreign to me.But I knew he was telling me the story of my life,past and future. I wondered how I got roped into thisand began to squirm.It had taken strong persuasion from an old friend toget me to the small room. "It's not just Jyotish, it'smuch more amazing," he coaxed. Indian astrology iscalled Jyotish, and it goes back thousands of years.Visiting your family astrologer is common practiceevery-where in India, where people plan weddings,births, and even routine business transactions aroundtheir astrological charts (Indira Gandhi was a famousexample of someone who followed Jyotish), but moderntimes have led to a fading away of tradition. I hadchronically avoided any brushes with Jyotish, being achild of modern India and later a working doctor inthe West.But my friend prevailed, and I had to admit that Iwas curious about what was going to happen. The youngpriest, dressed in a wrapped skirt with bare chest andhair shiny with coconut oil—both marks of asoutherner—didn't draw up my birth chart. Every charthe needed had already been drawn up hundreds of yearsago. In other words, someone sitting under a palm treemany generations ago had taken a strip of bark, knownas a Nadi, and inscribed my life on it.These Nadis are scattered all over India, and it'spure chance to run across one that applies to you. Myfriend had spent several years tracking down just onefor himself; the priest produced a whole sheaf for me,much to my friend's amazed delight. You have to comefor the reading, he insisted.Now the old man sitting across the table wasinterpreting in Hindi what the priest was chanting.Because of overlapping birth times and the vagaries ofthe calendar when we are speaking of centuries, Nadiscan overlap, and the first few sheets didn't apply tome. But by the third sheet or so, the young priestwith the sing-song voice was reading facts that werestartlingly precise: my birth date, my parents' names,my own name and my wife's, the number of children wehave and where they live now, the day and hour of myfather's recent death, his exact name, and mymother's.At first there seemed to be a glitch: The Nadi gavethe wrong first name for my mother, calling herSuchinta, when in fact her name is Pushpa. Thismistake bothered me, so I took a break and went to aphone to ask her about it. My mother told me, withgreat surprise, that in fact her birth name wasSuchinta, but since it rhymed with the word for "sad"in Hindi, an uncle suggested that it be changed whenshe was three years old. I hung up the phone,wondering what this whole experience meant, for theyoung priest had also read out that a relative wouldintervene to change my mother's name. No one in ourfamily had ever mentioned this incident, so the youngpriest wasn't indulging in some kind of mind-reading.For the benefit of skeptics, the young priest hadpassed nearly his whole life in a temple in SouthIndia and did not speak English or Hindi. Neither henor the old man knew who I was. Anyway, in this schoolof Jyotish, the astrologer doesn't take down yourbirth time and cast a personal chart which he theninterprets. Instead, a person walks into a Nadireader's house, the reader takes a thumb-print, andbased on that, the matching charts are located (alwayskeeping in mind that the Nadis may be lost orscattered to the winds). The astrologer reads out onlywhat someone else has written down perhaps a thousandyears ago. Here's another twist to the mystery: Nadisdon't have to cover everyone who will ever live, onlythose individuals who will one day show up at anastrologer's door to ask for a reading!In rapt fascination I sat through an hour of morearcane information about a past life I had spent in aSouth Indian temple, and how my transgressions in thatlifetime led to painful problems in this one, and(after a moment's hesitation while the reader asked ifI really wanted to know) the day of my own death. Thedate falls reassuringly far in the future, althougheven more reassuring was the Nadi's promise that mywife and children would lead long lives full of loveand accomplishment.I walked away from the old man and the young priestinto the blinding hot Delhi sunshine, almost dizzyfrom wondering how my life would change with this newknowledge. It wasn't the details of the reading thatmattered. I have forgotten nearly all of them, and Irarely think of the incident except when my eye fallson one of the polished bark sheets, now framed andkept in a place of honor in our home. The young priesthanded it to me with a shy smile before we parted. Theone fact that turned out to have a deep impact was theday of my death. As soon as I heard it, I felt both aprofound sense of peace and a new sobriety that hasbeen subtly changing my priorities ever since.... Deepak Chopra

We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

We frequently say, 'I dislike him,' 'I wish to avoid her,' but if we examine this carefully, we find it is the same element in all that we dislike, the ego. And when we turn to ourselves to see if we have it in us, we find it is there too. We should forget it, therefore, in other people, and first turn our attention to crushing it within ourselves. We should determine to have our house clean even if other people neglect theirs. We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others. There is a verse in the Quran, which says, 'Arise in the midst of the night, and commune with thy Lord... Bear patiently what others say.' This is not only a command to rise in the night and pray, but it also means that by rising in the night we crush the ego, for the ego demands its rest and comfort, and when denied, is crushed. The mystics fast for the same reason. The Sufi's base the whole of their teaching on the crushing of the ego which they term Nafs-kushi, for therein lies all magnetism and power.

For every soul there are four stages to pass through in order to come to the culmination of the ego, which means to reach the stage of the rose. The first stage is that a person is rough, thoughtless and inconsiderate. He is interested in what he wants and in what he likes; as such he is naturally blind to the needs and wants of others. In the second stage a man is decent and good as long as his interests are concerned. As long as he can get his wish fulfilled he is pleasant and kind and good and harmonious; but if he cannot get his wish and cannot have his way, then he becomes rough and crude and changes completely. And there is a third stage, when someone is more concerned with another person's wish and desire, and less with himself; when his whole heart is seeking for what he can do for another. In his thought the other person comes first and he comes afterwards. That is the beginning of turning into the rose. It is only a rosebud, but then in the fourth stage this rosebud blooms in the person who entirely forgets himself in doing kind deeds for others. In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi.

NEXT day, the Monday of the week, the master with the twelve, went to Jerusalem. 2 And as they passed along the way they saw a fig tree full of leaves without a sign of fruit. 3 And Jesus spoke unto the tree; he said, You useless cumberer of the ground; you fig tree fair to look upon, but a delusive thing. 4 You take from the earth and air the food that fruitful trees should have. 5 Go back to earth and be yourself the food for other trees to eat. 6 When Jesus had thus spoken to the tree he went his way. 7 And when he reached the temple, lo, the rooms were filled with petty merchants selling doves and animals, and other things, for sacrifice; the temple was a mart of trade. 8 And Jesus was indignant at the sight, and said, You men of Israel, for shame! This is supposed to be the house of prayer; but it is now a den of thieves. Remove this plunder from this holy place. 9 The merchants only laughed and said, We are protected in our trade by those who bear the rule; we will not go. 10 Then Jesus made a scourge of cords, as he did once before, and rushed among the merchantmen, threw all their money on the floor; 11 Threw wide the cages of the doves, and cut the cords that held the bleating lambs and set them free. 12 And then he drove the merchants from the place, and with a clean, new broom he swept the floors. 13 Chief priests and scribes were filled with wrath, but feared to touch or even to rebuke the Lord, for all the people stood in his defence. 14 And Jesus taught the people all day long and healed a multitude of those diseased, 15 And when the evening came he went again to Bethany. ........from the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi

Most souls do not know what the word Sin means, so I will try to clearup misconceptions... The word "sin" is an ancient Hebrew archery termthat means "Missing the Mark".. So, we must realize that "Sin" is notthe devestation of our Souls, It is just a missing of the "Bulls Eye"..and an opportunity to adjust our aim and perform better nexttime...When we realize that "Sin" is just the "Ego" in action and adeviation from the "State of Love", then we can reajust our thoughtsand actions to "Sin no more", as Jesus stated..When we finally realizethat the state of Love is a mental state of Happiness, then, we knowthat Sin causes pain and Love causes Happiness...............namaste,thomas

Consider your problem, whatever it might be. Perhaps it involvesmarriage or finances or health. Or perhaps you fear losing yoursecurity, or maybe you cannot obtain what you feel you must have.

Next, remember that there is a great difference between thinkingabout a problem and having a completely open mind towards it.Thinking about a difficulty cannot end it because the thoughtand the difficulty reside on the same psychological level.Conditioned thought is the very cause of the problem, thereforeit cannot save itself. Something higher is needed. This some-thing higher exists within a truly open mind, a mind whichneither attacks nor defends a problem. An open mind ends theillusion of an individual self, which ends the illusion of aproblem-burdened person, which ends the illusory existence ofthe problem.

Unconscious people—and many remain unconscious, trapped in their egosthroughout their lives—will quickly tell you who they are: their name,their occupation, their personal history, the shape or state of theirbody, and what-ever else they identify with. Others may appear to bemore evolved because they think of themselves as an immortal soul ordivine spirit. But do they really know themselves, or have they justadded some spiritual-sounding concepts to the content of their mind?Knowing yourself goes far deeper than the adoption of a set of ideasor beliefs. Spiritual ideas and beliefs may at best be helpfulpointers, but in themselves they rarely have the power to dislodge themore firmly established core concepts of who you think you are, whichare part of the conditioning of the human mind. Knowing yourselfdeeply has nothing to do with whatever ideas are floating around inyour mind. Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lostin your mind.

This appears to be a topic of discussion, so I will give the dictionaryexplanation..."Imagination is the ability to form mental images, or theability to spontaneously generate images within one's own mind. Ithelps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; itis a fundamental facility through which people make sense of the worldand it also plays a key role in the learningprocess".............................. So, it is a form of learning andvisualizing, with the word "Image" originating from, that is used forcreation purposes.. Did not God use Imagination to create us?.. SoImagination is a central part of the Universe and a path toKnowledge...The final aspect of Knowledge and Understanding is to crossthrough the thoughts of Imagination and realize that you are the Onethat created the Imagination of Ego and Seperateness.. This road ofKnowledge will free you from Duality and reunite Self withSelf...........namaste, thomas

Every being has an individual ego produced from his own illusion. This limits his view which is led in the direction of his own interest, and he judges of good and bad, high or low, right or wrong in relation to himself and others, through his limited view, which is generally partial and imaginary rather than true. This darkness is caused by the overshadowing of the soul by the external self. Thus a person becomes blind to his own infirmities as well as to the merits of another, and the right action of another becomes wrong in his eyes and the fault of the self seems right. This is the case with mankind in general, until the veil of darkness is lifted from his eyes.

It is the bodily desires, passion, anger, appetite, all the different desires and needs, that make the mind helpless and make man hold on to them. All the worries, anxieties, depressions, and despairs arise from them. There is not a single moment in which the mind is able to stand aloof so as to reflect the light within, the light of the soul, so limited has it been made by the limited existence on earth. In reality this is the whole tragedy of human life.

The one and only thing that hinders man from advancing spiritually, or at least from advancing towards the goal, for which he is destined, and which he is longing to attain, is this: that the mind is so absorbed by the demands and wants of the physical body that it has hardly a moment to give itself entirely to the reflection of the light of the soul.

The difference between a scientist and a mystic is that the former analyzes the things he is interested in, studying them by different methods in order to ascertain as much information about them as he can, the ways in which they can be of any benefit, their uses, and their nature, whereas the mystic, though in a way doing the same, first aims at lighting that light within himself by which he can see in this world of darkness and illusion, instead of using some technical instrument or special scientific process. As it is said, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven', so his first task is to light the candle within.

There is a light within every soul. It only needs the clouds, which hide it, to dissolve for it to beam forth. This is the light of revelation. It is like a lantern to us, it lights up every dark corner we wish to examine, and gives an answer to every question we would ask. ... There is a beautiful Indian tale that illustrates the meaning of this light. It is said that there is a certain kind of cobra, which has a diamond in its head. When it goes into the jungle, it takes out the diamond and places it on a tree. By means of its light, it searches all it wants, and when it is finished, it puts the diamond back in its head. The cobra represents the soul, and the diamond the light of inspiration guiding it. The same truth is portrayed in the story of Aladdin and his lamp. The lady he loved represented the ideal of his soul. The lamp he had to find was the light of inner guidance, which when found, would lead him to the attainment of his ideal.

All humans seek happiness.. this is truly the only goalthat is Universal..But no matter how selfish and evil they are, theystill seek the incredible feeling of Love through theirfamily,friends, and even animals..They therefore realize, evenfaintly, that Love is Happiness even if they try to find Happinessthrough power and money.. This knowledge of Happiness is found withinthe sub-conscious mind, which is your direct link to UniversalConsciousness, which many call God.. the sub-conscious mind is alsocalled "The Soul", as it forgets nothing and never sleeps.. When, youhave had a "Mystical Experience" of reuniting with God (yourself),you then realize that Love is God, and you are Love.. Since God iseverything, you realize that you are part of everything andtherefore part of God, with the same creative abilities.. At thistime, you have created the "false ego", and it is time to end thisillusion and return to your Real Self...........namaste, thomas

Understanding your position with others is that your only assistanceis to lead them in personalizing whatever you may say. Only thatwhich they can personalize will be of value to them. Thoughts movinginto their existence that they can have effect that will make themrealize themselves, must be of their creation. So you as afacilitator must assist them in becoming their own creator. Assistthem in finding that they become what they create. That is theironly source of becoming that which they desire. They in themselvesfulfill their needs and desires. They are but their own source.They must find that nothing outside themselves, no thing, no person,and no situation has the power to make them be what they are. Alloutside influences do not make the person. He is only what he isbecause he is formed and created by his own inner sources. DevelopLove of yourself there. Through this Love of yourself you'll findyour creative ability. Your creative ability will then fulfill allneeds and desires from within and form you into the happy and joyousindividual you were intended to be in fulfilling your purpose forexisting.

EACH MOMENT YOU CREATE

From where you are all creation begins. For nothing is within eachday except for the fact that you create it. Your thought bringsabout your day. The elements, the events, the things, the people,and situations; are because of you and your ability to create.Because you ARE, thought emanates from you and this thought is thetransference that light makes into energy. And energy moves out tomanifest whatever you want to create in your existence. It isdifficult to create nothing so what confronts you is to knowledgeablycreate with your thought system all that is positive that can come toyou. If you come from the position of existing in a world thatprovides you an experience established by chance beyond your controlor by sheer accident or happenstance; this you create to and for themost part negativism will be caught up in what to manifest in yourunaware exercise of existence. Abandon this. Take charge. Be thecreator you are. Manifest the positive that can be in your day.Know that you are the one responsible for it, who will do it and theresults brought about will be of your creation, will be what you livewith. No longer will you be the victim. From here on you will bethe creator. Plan out and establish with a total awareness what youwant. Fulfill all you need and desire through your creativeprocesses and with the knowledge that you bring to you; all that yousend out for.

EACH SPIRIT GROWS INDIVIDUALLY

We all find our direction individually. No two spirits are thesame. Each spirit has his own individual growth wherein working withhis Holy Spirit can gradually gain the knowledge necessary for him toestablish the Peace that will eventually be his. On a day-to-daybasis his guidance leads him to this achievement. Bit by bit thepieces of knowledge are delivered to him to fit into his particulargrowth pattern to bring all the pieces of knowledge into a whole thatwill gradually elevate him through growth. This will bring togetherhis Holographic completeness that enables him to find through the useof his energy establishment and flow, becoming daily more familiarwith the energy uses to his highest benefit. Through this continuinguse he will find himself at a point of his achievement along with allother spirits in his involvement.

The reason why there is so much talk about the Ego is because, the illusion of ego is the very reason why we are in these bodies.. You might believe that the ego starts in early childhoodor at your first bad experience, but, the ego was created long beforewe entered the material plane.. We are speaking of the "false ego", when we speak of the ego, as our real ego(self) is the energy of Light and Love......All religions and philosophies are centered around the ego, when Jesus spoke of Love, He was speaking of thelack of ego.. When He was speaking of humility, He was speaking of the path of Love that leads to the end of the false ego....So you see, ego and its' demise is the very core of Mysticism and mostReligions and Philosophies..............namaste, thomas

Go beyond good and bad by refraining from mentally labeling anything asgood or bad. When you go beyond the habitual naming, the power of theuniverse moves through you. When you are in a nonreactive relationshipto experiences, what you would have called "bad" before often turnsaround quickly, if not immediately, through the power of life itself.

Watch what happens when you don't name an experience as "bad" andinstead bring an inner acceptance, an inner "yes" to it, and so let itbe as it is.

This is the miracle: behind every condition, person, or situation thatappears "bad" or "evil" lies concealed a deeper good. That deeper goodreveals itself to you~ both within and without~ through inneracceptance of what is.

...Jesus said: "My brother, God is love; therefore he must be good, and his goodness is so great and real that it cannot contain the small and unreal things of evil. God is so positively good that there is absolutely no place in him for negative evil.... P.1429

"The Mystic Path never requires that you grasp more than youcan at the present moment. If you can only listen to wisdom,then listen. If you can only understand that personal effortis necessary, then realize that much. If you can grasp justone truth out of a hundred, that is just fine. Do only whatyou can do for now. Progress is certain."

And the Buddha said: "What my friends, is evil? [1]"Killing is evil; stealing is evil; yielding to sexual passion is evil; lying is evil; slandering is evil; abuse is evil; gossip is evil; envy is evil; hatred is evil; to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things, my friends are evil. [2]

"And what, my friends, is the root of evil? [3]

"Desire is the root of evil; hatred is the root of evil; illusion is the root of evil; these things are the root of evil. [4]

"What, however, is good? [5]

"Abstaining from killing is good; abstaining from theft is good;abstaining from sensuality is good; abstaining from falsehood is good;abstaining from slander is good; suppression of unkindness is good;abandoning gossip is good; letting go all envy is good; dismissing hatred is good; obedience to the truth is good; all these things are good. [6]

"And what, my friends, is the root of the good? [7]

"Freedom from desire is the root of the good; freedom from hatred and freedom from illusion; these things, my friends, are the root of the good. [8]

"What, however, O brethren, is suffering? What is the origin of suffering? What is the annihilation of suffering? [9]

"Birth is suffering; old age is suffering; disease is suffering;death is suffering; sorrow and misery are suffering; affliction and despair are suffering; to be united with loathsome things is suffering; the loss of that which we love and the failure in attaining that which is longed for are suffering; all these things, O brethren, are suffering. [10]

"And what, O brethren, is the origin of suffering? [11]

"It is lust, passion, and the thirst for existence that yearns for pleasure everywhere, leading to a continual rebirth! It is sensuality, desire, selfishness; all these things, O brethren, are the origin of suffering. [12]

"And what is the annihilation of suffering? [13]

"The radical and total annihilation of this thirst and the abandonment, the liberation, the deliverance from passion, that, O brethren, is the annihilation of suffering. [14]

"And what, O brethren, is the path that leads to the annihilation of suffering? [15]

"It is the holy eightfold path that leads to the annihilation of suffering, which consists of, right views, right decision, right speech, right action, right living, right struggling, right thoughts,and right meditation. [16]

"In so far, O friends, as a noble youth thus recognizes sufferingand the origin of suffering, as he recognizes the annihilation of suffering, and walks on the path that leads to the annihilation of suffering, radically forsaking passion, subduing wrath, annihilating the vain conceit of the "I-am," leaving ignorance, and attaining to enlightenment, he will make an end of all suffering even in this life."...................by Gautama the Buddha

We know that the cosmos manifests itself out of the divine Mind, andwithin it, too. But why there should be such a manifestation at all, wedo not know. Many students raise this query and are dissatisfied at thefailure to obtain a good answer. But the fact is that such questionscannot be adequately answered on the same plane as that on which theyarise. If we could shift our consciousness to a higher one, we wouldfind that they simply do not exist there. However, although completeadequacy may be unattainable, some sort of working answer can beformulated and used for and by those who are unable to effect such ashift. If the human entity has no other purpose to fulfil on this earththan to return to the sphere of its origin, then it had no business toleave that sphere. There must be something to be gained by its earthlyjourney, if the universe has any sense in it at all.

In essence the entire spiritual endeavor is a very simple thing:Spirituality is essentially about awakening as the intuitiveawareness of unity and dissolving our attachment to egoicconsciousness. By saying that spirituality is a very simple thing, Ido not mean to imply that it is either an easy or difficult endeavor.For some it may be very easy, while for others it may be moredifficult. There are many factors and influences that play a role inone's awakening to the greater reality, but the greatest factors byfar are one's sincerity, one-pointedness, and courage.

Sincerity is a word that I often use in teaching to convey theimportance of being rooted in the qualities of honesty, authenticity,and genuineness. There can be nothing phony or contrived in ourmotivations if we are to fully awaken to our natural and integralstate of unified awareness. While teachings and teachers can point usinward to "the peace beyond all understanding," it is always alongthe thread of our inner sincerity, or lack thereof, that we willtravel. For the ego is clever and artful in the ways of deception,and only the honesty and genuineness of our ineffable being arebeyond its influence. At each step and with each breath we are giventhe option of acting and responding, both inwardly and outwardly,from the conditioning of egoic consciousness which values control andseparation above all else, or from the intuitive awareness of unitywhich resides in the inner silence of our being.

Without sincerity it is so very easy for even the greatest spiritualteachings to become little more than playthings of the mind. In ourfast-moving world of quick fixes, big promises, and short attentionspans, it is easy to remain on a very surface level of consciousnesswithout even knowing it. While the awakened state is ever present andcloser than your feet, hands, or eyes, it cannot be approached in acasual or insincere fashion. There is a reason that seekers the worldover are instructed to remove their shoes and quiet their voicesbefore entering into sacred spaces. The message being conveyed isthat one's ego must be "taken off and quieted" before access to thedivine is granted. All of our ego's attempts to control, demand, andplead with reality have no influence on it other than to make lifemore conflicted and difficult. But an open mind and sincere hearthave the power to grant us access to realizing what has always beenpresent all along.

When people asked the great Indian sage Nisargadatta what he thoughtwas the most important quality to have in order to awaken, he wouldsay "earnestness." When you are earnest, you are both sincere and one-pointed; to be one-pointed means to keep your attention on one thing.I have found that the most challenging thing for most spiritualseekers to do is to stay focused on one thing for very long. The mindjumps around with its concerns and questions from moment to moment.Rarely does it stay with one question long enough to penetrate itdeeply. In spirituality it is very important not to let the egoicmind keep jumping from one concern to the next like an untrained dog.Remember, awakening is about realizing your true nature anddissolving all attachment to egoic consciousness.

My grandmother who passed away a few years ago used to say to mejokingly, "Getting old is not for wimps." She was well aware of thechallenges of an aging body, and while she never complained or feltany pity for herself, she knew firsthand that aging had itschallenges as well as its benefits. There was a courage within mygrandmother that served her well as she approached the end of herlife, and I am happy to say that when she passed, it was willinglyand without fear. In a similar way the process of coming into a fulland mature awakening requires courage, as not only our view of lifebut life itself transforms to align itself with the inner mysticvision. A sincere heart is a robust and courageous heart willing tolet go in the face of the great unknown expanse of Being—an expansewhich the egoic mind has no way of knowing or understanding.

When one's awareness opens beyond the dream state of egoicconsciousness to the infinite no-thing-ness of intuitive awareness,it is common for the ego to feel much fear and terror as thistransition begins. While there is nothing to fear about our naturalstate of infinite Being, such a state is beyond the ego's ability tounderstand, and as always, egos fear whatever they do not understandand cannot control. As soon as our identity leaves the ego realm andassumes its rightful place as the infinite no-thing-ness/every-thing-ness of awareness, all fear vanishes in the same manner as when weawaken from a bad dream. In the same manner in which my grandmothersaid, "Getting old is not for wimps," it can also be said that makingthe transition from the dream state to the mature, awakened staterequires courage.

Sincerity, one-pointedness, and courage are indispensable qualitiesin awakening from the dream state of ego to the peace and ease ofawakened Being. All there is left to do is to live it.

Saint Paul speaks of the gift of tongues. This phrase has puzzled manyof his readers. The Church, not knowing its meaning, usually considersit to mean speaking in languages unknown on earth. The Spiritualists,possessed by their own theories of spirit-possession, usually considerit to mean speaking in languages unknown to the speaker but used inother countries. Mystics who develop this gift find that it meanseither the ability to speak in symbolic metaphoric enigmatic orallegoric language or the ability to interpret such language when heardor to translate it when read. On this definition, Saint John's Book ofRevelation is a striking example of the working of the gift of tongues.

Tortured and stultified by the utter failure of his intellect to graspthe ultimate reality, man has conceptualized God in the image ofhimself attributing to it the noblest sentiments and qualities hehimself wants but lacks. To reach that which is beyond this God, thetranscendent and immanent ground of all manifestation, the intellectis powerless. There is no path to that which is timeless and presenteverywhere and which is itself the source of all thought.~Balsekar

Whoever attains this inner liberation rarely finds it reflected in theouter world of human societies. Only by going to the lonely places ofnature, to forests and fields, deserted shores and unbuilt-on hills canhe match the freedom felt. If he ventures into an ashram--howeverreputed--the sense of entering a cage is produced. It could be thatthis is partly caused by the mental pressure of its authorities orinmates, by the smug if unexpressed exclusiveness. If he enters achurch, he is at ease only if he is the only worshipper; otherwisesectarian pressure comes to awareness.

The successful mystic certainly comes into contact with his real "I."But if this contact is dependent upon meditational trance, it isnecessarily an intermittent one. He cannot obtain a permanent contactunless he proceeds further and widens his aspiration to achieve contactwith the universal "I." There is therefore a difference between theinterior "I" and the universal "I," but it is a difference only ofdegree, not of kind, for the latter includes the former.

The antique method, whereby a master's teachings are made compulsoryupon the student, is unsuited to the modern man who is now beginning tocome of intellectual age. Today the student is advised to keep mentallyfree and open, weighing and judging the worth of all teachings--including his master's--by every means of appraisal known to him.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and theway is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enterby it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hardthat leads to life, and those who find it are few."World Scripture, Responsibility and Self-Destination, Christianity,Matthew 7.13-14Our biggest misunderstanding about God is that He thinkslike we think. We cannot comprehend how God thinks, butwe must seek to understand it as well as we can. In theQur'an, the Lord says "Be mindful of me, and I will bemindful of you." 2.152 And "God changes not what is in apeople, until they change what is in themselves." 13.11We must stop expecting God to respond to our ownpersonal whims about how He should react to our desireto know Him. Rather, we should seek Him on His ownterms. Those terms are laid out in the Ancient Sacred Textsand the writings of the Prophets, Saints, Mystics andSages from throughout the world and time. Go there andfollow the pathway that He left behind for us throughsome of His greatest souls. It is in their words that we findwhat it is that WE must do for God to reach towards us,rather than what HE must do to fulfill our desire for Him.Finally, the question of suffering and why it happens inthe world is probably the most commonly wondered aboutplight of the human being. Christ made the answer clearwhen He said to His disciples that the Servant is notgreater than the Master, and what they do to the Masterthey shall also do to you. It is also said in BiblicalScripture that "it rains on the just and the unjust alike.'Suffering is part of the human condition............by Marilynn Hughes

By enlarging ones mind, one can enter into all the things in theworld. As long as anything is not yet entered into, there is stillsomething outside the mind. The mind of ordinary people is limited tothe narrowness of what is seen and what is heard. The sage, however,fully develops his nature and does not allow what is seen or heard tofetter his mind. He regards everything in the world as his own self.This is why Mencius said that if one exerts his mind to the utmost hecan know nature and Heaven. Heaven is so vast that there is nothingoutside of it. Therefore the mind that leaves something outside is notcapable of uniting itself with the mind of Heaven.

The Long Path is needed to make a man or woman ripe for receivingtruth, but only the Short Path can lead to it. This is the answer tothe dilemma created by the claims of the Wu Wei school. Its practicalapplication is: act as the Long Path requires by working on andimproving the self, but think as the Short Path enjoins by holding theattitude "There is nothing to be attained. Realization is already hereand now!"

"So, how do you get back to heaven?To begin with, just notice the thoughtsthat take you away from it.You don't have to believe everything your thoughts tell you.Just become familiar with the particular thoughts you useto deprive yourself of happiness.It may seem strange at firstto get to know yourself in this way,but becoming familiar with your stressful thoughtswill show you the way home to everything you need."

... the underlying principle of esoteric beliefs is that all life ismade of light. As human beings with egos we often forget our truenature and we over identify with our personalities and bodies. We arelight in bodies.

Alchemists did not literally change lead into gold. Rather theytransmuted heavy leaded consciousness into gold light consciousness.Jesus in Matthew 5:30-20 challenges us not to hide our light underbaskets. When mystics all over the world perform their miracles ofhealing they are seen to shine and become luminescent. ThroughoutMedicine for the Earth I write about the importance of the concept oflight in all spiritual traditions.

We are light and we came here to shine. But most of us have forgottenour true nature as well as why we came here. We were created fromlove and light and we are love and light. It is our birthright toshine as fully in the world as we can.

Many of us have been taught at an early age not to shine too bright.If we shine too bright no one will love us. There can only be afew "stars" and it is not you. Does this sound familiar?

Why can there only be a few stars here on earth? I have never heardanyone say when looking up at the stars in the sky, "I wish that starwouldn't shine so brightly it is outshining other stars". Why do wehave that belief here?

It is time for all us to shine our light, which will reflect back thebeauty of the night sky above us. We need to find our shine again sothat we can light up the dark places of the world...... SandraIngerman

A drop of water has the tastes of the water of the seven seas: thereis no need to experience all the ways of worldly life. The reflectionsof the moon on one thousand rivers are from the same moon: the mindmust be full of light.

Spiritual. I love the word. Some don't, I know. I love the wordbecause, for me, it describes a vibrant reality ofliving. 'Spiritus,' the Latin. 'Ruah,' the Hebrew. It means breath.The breath of life. The animating force. Aristotle called the soul,the life principle. Spirituality is that (activity, attitude,awareness, behavior, developed character) that allows a person toenter into the life principle as vibrantly, as honestly, ascourageously, as peacefully as we can. Spiritual.

Spiritual love (Preetee), means love without expectations.

Ordinarily when one loves anyone there is some form of expectationattached and it is conditional. However spiritual love isunconditional, no matter what the circumstances are. This form oflove is divine and only develops after a considerable amount ofspiritual practice when one perceives God in everyone. So also, webecome happier individuals when our love is not adulterated ordiluted by expectations.

The above diagram shows how worldly love i.e. love with expectationis based on the similarities with another person's nature. But thereis no guarantee that all aspects of our nature will be similar orcompliment the other person's nature. When we begin to discover thedifference, that's when the strife and trouble begins.

On the other hand, spiritual love or love without expectation isbased on the unchanging Soul. This is akin to how a string links thebeads on a necklace whatever the shape, colour or size – the externalnature is not important. The hole in each bead represents our soulwhich is the same for all of us i.e. the God in one is not in any waydifferent from the God within another.

Christian Baldwin wrote that, "Spiritual Love is a position ofstanding with one hand extended into the universe and one handextended into the world, letting ourselves be a conduit for passingenergy."

"So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering worldin which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have,and then when that is no longer possible, to make music with what wehave left," said Jack Riemer of the Houston Chronicle.

In the end, the lucky ones see the world with great love, and playwhatever music they can with whatever strings they have left!

This is not really high-fallutin' stuff here. It is practice in theevery day. It is some basic patterns of awareness and the effort tolive within those patterns that can make a life more meaningful, morepeaceful, more alive, more gratifying, more in tune with the basictruths and the best we can be living out these truths.

So we use breath as a metaphor, and begin to talk about love that isspiritual, love that bequeaths a life that allows a person to enterinto the life principle as vibrantly, as honestly, as courageously,as peacefully, as joyfully as we can.

Many of you have read or heard of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buberand his book, "I and Thou." In a shortened version perhaps one couldsay that his whole philosophy is that, "all real living is meeting."He is saying that the 'I' of a person is only truly itself when it islived is lived in the 'I/Thou' context as opposed to the 'I/It'context. The idea that a spiritual life is one which connectsone's 'I' with all else in reverent 'Thouness.'

In an 'I/It' stance, the I is not in true relationship with another.It is an objectifying stance that keeps the 'I' from seeing anotheror life in whole, keeping the 'I' lonely in separation. Thisobjectifying stance not only makes the individual lonely and removed,and it is the core of why many, many horrible things to happen in theworld. As long as someone can be an 'It' all sorts of violence canensue. The 'I/It' paradigm creates enemies. It allows us tocavalierly abuse the environment and each other. Buber has awonderful passage about a tree and the difference between an 'I/It'and 'I/Thou' relationship with a tree.

In the 'I/It' paradigm, we can say that sin is the lack of connectionto the awareness of the interdependence of life. Living fromthe 'I/Thou' paradigm puts everything in a connected mode and isreally what love is.

Buber wrote that the primary word is 'I/Thou.' Whenever we can speakthat primary word, love is present.

Buber writes about our lives in the womb being the ultimateexperience of 'Thou' when we are totally connected to the life force.Upon birth we begin to differentiate and to become an 'I' separatefrom The Great Mother. We become an 'I' capable of living an 'I/Thou'life through the initial 'Mother Thou.' The spiritual journey isabout staying differentiated as a unique 'I' at the same time stayingconnected to all life in an 'I/Thou' relationship.

I've just watched the movie "Billie Elliot." What an exquisite film!All about the process of learning to love from the place of 'I/Thou.'Billy is an 11 year-old boy whose mother has recently died. He liveswith his grandmother for whom he cares, his father, and his teenagebrother in a coal-mining town in England. They are poor. The minersare on strike. The family is full of hardship, anxiety, and grief.

Beautiful Billy is taking boxing lessons. A case can be made forboxing being the ultimate 'I/It' sport. The task of literally beatingup the other in order to win. Billy is not good at it. But Billywatches the girls' ballet class in the next room and feels himselfpulled there. He loves to dance. The extraordinary thing about thischaracter is that he goes to the girls and he accepts an invitationto join them despite cultural norms. Despite what anyone would sayabout him, he goes for the strengthening of the 'I,' the soul, theperson who is calling him from the inside out to be a dancer in thislife. He doesn't want his macho father to know, so he hides hisballet slippers under the mattress and practices in the bathroom.

But dance he will! For Billy is already living out of the originalword of 'I/Thou' which calls for the 'I' to love itself beyondconvention. The original word of 'I/Thou' transcends gender-roleexpectations and many other cultural norms. To see this young boy soself-differentiated; it is a sight to behold! Scene after lovelyscene of this boy answering his being's call to greatness. In thisregard, he is living a spiritual life as his being is connected tothe life force in a courageous and vibrant way against many odds. Histeacher, as brusque and cold as she can be sometimes, sees Billywhole; she sees where his spirit wants to go. They enter into arelationship from the context of 'I/Thou.' There is a scene of themdancing together that is the primary word of 'I/Thou' set in motion.It is to die for. (Interesting phrase isn't it, "To die for?" Dyingto the old self into new being.)

As you can imagine, eventually Billy's father catches him dancing inthe community center. He rages in and stops toe to toe with his son.Billy meets his gaze straight on and begins to dance for his father.It is a respectfully defiant dance that says, "I will be mygreatness. Here I show you. See me whole. Love me in my greatness."Billy gives his father the opportunity to live from the 'I/Thou'stance. He invites him to open his heart and to go another way. He issaying, "don't you stay stuck in your anger and one dimensional wayof looking at the world. Come along with me to transformative love."

When the spirit dances true and unashamed, when the heart is opened,and the mind free, nothing will stay the same.

Thou. My spell check says it is not in the dictionary. How sad. It isa word, in my opinion, that in its saying making sacred that whichone is pointing to in its saying. When one is living fromBuber's 'I/Thou' paradigm, there can be no hate. "Hate is by natureblind. Only a part of a being can be hated." So then, by seeingothers whole and with a heart of compassion, there is no hate.

Hey, now. This does not mean no action against that which harms you.This does not mean living with abuse in the name of no hate. The 'I'sometimes needs to boundary itself from the presence of another inorder to respect itself. Yet, it seems to me that one must ultimatelydo the work to make the other (who may feel like the enemy 'It') intoa 'Thou', if one wants to be free within. This can be a long andarduous journey, but a very fruitful one if one wants the inner andouter life to be more vibrant, courageous and peaceful.

"The original word is 'I/Thou'," said Buber. All true living is inmeeting. It is relational. It beckons forth the best in self and thebest in the other. We breathe into our beings the vitality that comeswhen we listen deeply to another without judgment. We breathe in thattrue meeting, and we change ourselves. We sit with another who rubsus the wrong way, and we breathe deeply and ask our heart to be openin compassion. We realize that with compassion we begin to see howcut off the other is from their own greatness of being. We do nothave to get anxious about what they are saying. We reflect in how cutoff from joy their being is in its current state. By our listening orgently boundary setting or offering our own story or holding a hand,we invite that person to realize how 'Thou' they are. We know rightaway when someone puts us in the light of 'Thou,' even if we saynothing, that they are being treated in a sacred manner.

Billy Elliot has a childhood friend named Michael who is gay and across-dresser. (By the way, these two ways of being do not always gotogether, but in this film they do.) Billy is straight and a balletdancer. He does not just tolerate his friend, he meets him in honestyand openness. Many tender scenes of two very different boys loyal toone another in their becoming. No finer example of an 'I/Thou'relationship.

Oh dear, I guess I can't tell you the end of the movie which wouldmake a great end of the sermon! I want so to tell it. Suffice is tosay that Billy continues to encourage those around him to be with himin a sacred manner of love. The ending is powerful, redeeming, andbig. Yet it is in the small nuances and interactions that the storylives. In our spiritual interactions it is this meeting; a briefmeeting and that meeting, and then this one lived from the heart ofcompassion and the knowing which we are all connected in this life.There is great suffering and what we all want most deeply is to beseen, met, and loved. We want to move from 'I/It' relatingto 'I/Thou' relating. This is the angst of our cry the day we areborn. This is the joy of existence when we remember what we were bornknowing.

This is the meaning of the word spirituality that I cherish. Thepractice is to live congruent with your best sense of who you weremeant to be, and then to serve the world by acting in relation to theworld from an 'I/Thou' mindset more and more and more often.

Poem

The thing is to love life.To love it even when you have no stomach for it, when everythingyou've held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands and yourthroat is filled with the silt of it.When grief sits with you so heavily it's like heat, tropical, moist,thickening the air so it's heavy like water, more fit for gills thanlungs.When grief weights you like your own flesh only more of it, anobesity of grief.How long can a body withstand this? you think, and yet you hold life,like a face between your palms.A plain face, with no charming smile or twinkle in her eye, and yousay: yes, I will take you.I will love you, again.

Ellen Bass, Author — California

In the end, the lucky ones begin to see the whole world with greatlove, all of it - the pain, the greed, the fact of our own death,seeing those we love die or suffer, abuse. In the end, the lucky onesbegin to see the whole world with great love no matter what; all ofit - the joy, the giving, the fact that we live at all, the privilegeof being with those we love no matter what the duration, greatgentleness. If we are lucky, we will do what we can to be inrelationship with life from an 'I/Thou' frame of reference and makethe most of this dear gift of life in whatever circumstance we findourselves. A story now from the book, "Living An Extraodinary Life,"by Robert White.

Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give concert at AveryFisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever beento a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no smallachievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so hehas braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches.

To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully andslowly, is an unforgettable sight. He walks painfully, yetmajestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he slowly sits down,puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucksone foot back, and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends downand picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to theconductor, and proceeds to play.

By now the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while hemakes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverentlysilent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he isready to play.

But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the firstfew bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear itsnap. It went off like gunfire across the room. There was nomistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he hadto do.

People who were there that night thought to themselves: "We figuredthat he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up thecrutches and limp his way off stage - to either find another violinor else find another string for this one."

But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and thensignaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and heplayed from where he had left off. And he played with such passionand such power and such purity as they had never heard before. Ofcourse, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic workwith just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but thatnight Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.

You could see him modulating, changing, recomposing the piece in hishead. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings toget new sounds from them that they had never made before.

When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And thenpeople rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst ofapplause from every comer of the auditorium. We were all on our feet,screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much weappreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quietus, and then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive,reverent tone, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to findout how much music you can still make with what you have left."

What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since Iheard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the [way] of life - not justfor artists but for all of us.

"So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering worldin which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have,and then when that is no longer possible, to make music with what wehave left," said Jack Riemer of the Houston Chronicle.

In the end, the lucky ones see the world with great love, and playwhatever music they can with whatever strings they haveleft!....................from Enlightenment Chapel

Without any conditions,Irreversibly,Absolutely,Offer our poor petty mind,And arrogant ego,To that Great Power that knows the wayOur own Divine Source!And happily merge in Her bliss.

To attain flourishing immortal lifeIn which Death is no more,The non-dual Truth,The state of Great Silence,There is no other meansThan making the ultimate sacrificeOf total, complete, self surrender!Thus, to be absorbedThrough surrender of the self to the Self,Is to attain the Supreme Truth.

Whatever happens let it happen,Whatever does not happen,Let it not happen,A sadakh with this attitudeWill be well established in the Self.

*A free versification of the opening verses in Muruganar'sPadamalai from the Chapter on Surrender, Love and Devotion.